THE YOUNG Irelanders’ rebellion may have had outside help from a Polish
war hero, and history may have to be rewritten thanks to a discovery by a
Carlow historian.

Well-known local historian Michael Purcell believes that he has evidence
showing that Polish patriot and military hero Józef Szymanowski came to
Ireland to help organise the Young Ireland rebellion of 1848.

The astonishing discovery is contained in a handwritten police report by
an undercover agent in Carlow dating from the night before the 1848
rising. And its significance might have gone unremarked had it not been
for Michael’s lucky encounter with Piotr Krysztofowicz, a Polish man
living in the Castledermot area.

Piotr, a civil engineer, was working on the redevelopment of Deighton Hall
in Carlow town when he met Michael.

On seeing the document, he immediately recognised the name ‘Simosky’ as a
rough translation of Polish war hero Józef Szymanowski, who fought for his
country’s freedom at the end of the eighteenth century.

“The document is part of the Benjamin Disraeli papers – he was the high
sheriff of Carlow at the time and uncle to the British prime minister of
the same name. I knew it was important but I didn’t realise how
significant it was until I met Piotr,” Michael told The Nationalist.

“Piotr pointed out who Simosky might be. He would have changed his name
when he came over here, or we would have, as people wouldn’t have been
able to pronounce it. This guy was a military strategist and this is the
first indication that Poland was offering to help Ireland. It’s a turn up
for the books; they offered to help us fight for our freedom.”

After trying “any possible spelling of any other name”, Piotr knew there
was no other man this could be.

“There is only one man who could do such a thing, with that tactical
knowledge. It’s very exciting. No other man at the time had the ability to
teach warfare … it has to be him,” added Piotr.

The document in question is a handwritten account of an undercover
investigation that took place at the Castle Tavern bar, Castle Street on
the night of 28 July 1848.

In his report, Constable John Roddy from Tullow gives a full account of
his orders to “proceed to a public house situated at Castle Street … to
watch a suspicious person therein said house, to pay particular attention
to his conversation and to take notes of it”. Constable Roddy arrived at
the bar at 11pm, dressed in plain clothes, and “took lodgings there for
the night”.

While in The Tavern, he observed a man “calling himself Joseph Simosky”, a
native of Poland, with whom he ended up sharing a bed for the night, as
would have been the custom at the time.

In the course of their conversation, before and after going to bed,
Constable Roddy discovered that the Pole had been “drilling the people in
Limerick for two months and was also drilling them in Clonmel and that he
came to Carlow for the same purpose”.

Simosky also let slip information about his plans to attend a meeting in
Carlow before making his way to Dublin “on the same business”.

Then, suddenly wary of his confidante, Simosky starts speaking in code,
despite already having revealed too much information. “He asked me ‘if I
would pass off the sword’. I replied: ‘To be sure I would’,” continues
Constable Roddy’s statement.

“He said: ‘I was not right, that he would pass it off with both hands’ and
that if I would meet him at the meeting on Monday he would set me right.”
Simosky warned “that it was dangerous to be any other way, as there would
be a general rising of the people in three weeks”.

“He would tell me more only I was a stranger and he thought he could not
depend on me,” continued the report. According to Michael Purcell, the
Polish native “must be drunk at this stage … he tells him a bit much”.

“It’s really interesting as well that the RIC man went to bed with him to
get more information. He knows he’s going to talk, which he does. Simosky
trusts him, even though he didn’t give the answer to the code, but he’s
after giving him all the information already.”

Simosky’s part in the Young Irelanders’ rebellion was further cemented
when Constable Roddy continued “that Poland fought for liberty and that
Ireland would do the same and that he would give them a hand”, before
noting that “he said, too, that if I went to the meeting, I would hardly
know him as he would appear there in uniform”.

Constable Roddy’s statement was sworn and signed on 29 July 1848, the very
same date that the Young Ireland movement failed in its rebellion at
Ballingarry, Tipperary.

“No historian in Ireland has ever been able to make a connection to
Poland. This was the RIC suppressing the rising before it took off,” added
Michael.

In further documents discovered, Michael Brophy, a historian from the
1900s, claims that Simosky was “a Polish envoy from Rome, who became
involved in political activities in order to offer support from Poland”.

According to Brophy, Simosky was held in Carlow jail and there are
suggestions that he was buried in Felon’s Plot in the jail. “He was
arrested and brought to trial. The second document says he was held in
Carlow jail and indicates he was buried in Felon’s Plot at the jail. It
was made to look like he left Carlow, though. This adds further mystery to
it all,” added Michael Purcell.

“January 1900 seems to be the last known reference to Szymanowski. At that
point, he was in Rome to meet the Pope. We knew no more about him after
this, until now.”

History books may have to be rewritten as a result of this extraordinary
document and the efforts of Michael Purcell and Piotr Krysztofowicz.

Source: Michael
Purcell c.2012

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